With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today during our fall member drive.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Wacky Skyscraper With Cantilevered Swimming Pools Planned For Downtown
"Wacky" is the appropriate word to describe the early rendering of a proposed 55 (or 57) story tower that would lord over Pershing Square if built. A part of a project by downtown developer Jeffrey Fish, the tower would add more than 100 units of luxury condos to downtown's rapidly growing real estate market, commercial space and maybe even a hotel, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The tower would also be home to Los Angeles' first over-the-side skyscraper swimming pools. Though pools like this have been built all over the world in China, the UAE, Australia and even Dallas, Los Angeles' dis-affinity for radical skyscraper design means any high-rise pools here are hidden away inside the building itself, or on its rooftop. If built, the new tower would let those few Angelenos wealthy enough to afford a spot inside a chance to gaze down upon the rest of us walking along 50 stories below, all from the luxury of a glass-bottomed pool. That being said, the building portrayed in the (very preliminary) rendering does look very cool. We can only imagine what sort of night-lighting scheme the architects are planning.
If built, the edifice would sit at the intersection of 5th and Hill streets, diagonal to Pershing Square and across the street from a subway portal. An unused piece of "L" shaped land would provide the tower's base (where those paper Giraffes used to live), and the building would rise adjacent to Fish's preeminent downtown development, the restored Pershing Square Building (home of Perch restaurant)
As Curbed points out, the two iterations of the building were proposed to the City of Los Angeles in filings made last week. One alternative is 55 stories tall, and includes 100 condos, 200 hotel rooms and 27,500 square-feet of commercial space. The other is 57 stories tall, and features 142 condos with 25,000 square-feet of commercial space.
Support for LAist comes from
It's worth noting that this is building is still in the very preliminary stages of development. Fish estimates the building is a few years out, though he's "very committed" to seeing construction through to the end.
Anyway, the building looks like a cool addition to the city's burgeoning skyline. Our big question, of course, is what happens during an earthquake? Would thousands of gallons of pool water slosh down upon the (likely panicked) walkers of downtown?
At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.
But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
Kevin Lacy has an obsession with documenting California’s forgotten and decaying places. -
Restaurants share resources in the food hall in West Adams as Los Angeles reckons with increasing restaurant closures. -
It will be the second national day of protest against President Donald Trump. -
The university says the compact, as the Trump administration called it, could undermine free inquiry and academic excellence. -
This is the one time you can do this legally! -
Metro officials said it will be able to announce an opening date “soon.”
Best of LAist